John Sterling to the Hall of Fame? His broadcast colleagues would love it
John Sterling joked that Saturday might be the greatest day of his life, but it was no joke when he said that the most fun he had at his job of 36 years was the year that broke a 15-year streak.
“The most exciting year was 1996. They weren’t expecetd to do anything, and lost their ace in David Cone the same way we’ve lost Gerrit Cole, but they got to first place early and stayed there,” John said. “And here’s a stat for you: in 1996, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Atlanta were the three next best teams in baseball; the Yankees played 18 times in their parks and won them all. They were 18-0.”
If the Yankees break a 15-year World Series drought in 2024, John will be watching on TV or listening on WFAN…and believe us, he will, especially with the new 83” TV the Yankees gifted him.
“I’m gonna watch and listen to every game I can, and the NBA and NHL playoffs are beginning, so I’m going to be very busy,” he joked. “I’m not going to miss coming to the ballpark, but I’m going to love watching and Iistening, and I’m going to enjoy it. I have a beautiful apartment in Edgewater, with a great view of the Hudson, and I had five screens put in, so I’m not gonna leave!”
He’ll also surely be talking to his Yankees companera, Suzyn Waldman, who joked that ‘you’re never going to get rid of me!’ in their final moments together in the booth.
“I’ll miss having her tell me what to do!” John joked. “I don’t have a computer or smartphone, and I once told Suzyn it drives me crazy that I can never tell you anything, and she said “John, I talk to everyone, you don’t talk to anyone!” We’re friends and always be, I’m just not doing the games anymore.”
“I owe an awful lot to John, and this is tough, but we want him to love his life, and I hope everyone remembers this is a man who lived his dream,” Suzyn had said moments earlier. “All he ever wanted to do was be like Mel Allen. To me, he will always be the voice of the Yankees.”
And perhaps, maybe, someday, something more? We’ll leave that to the voice of the Yankees en Espanol, Rickie Ricardo, who summed up John’s career best at the beginning of WFAN’s John Sterling Day coverage:
“John Sterling deserves to have that Ford Frick Award, and deserves to be in Cooperstown. We need to start a groundswell of support to get John Sterling in the Baseball Hall of Fame."
